Tag Archives: Japan

The scripture which outlines this problem is: Psalm 50:21 You thought that I was altogether like you;

This is called projection – the notion that others have the same motives, desires, theologies, and opinions as you do. And they base their behavior on this.

We all know the jealous woman who believes every woman is after her husband. Or worse yet, the men in the church actually believing that single woman are after them. Or, worse even than that, the pastor thinking all the single women are after all the men regardless of station.

This is a function of an overblown ego and has traditionally made the church a hostile place especially for single women and one of the reasons that pastors often go to lengths to marry single women off. It happened to a friend of mine in her later 20s. The pastor kept encouraging her to marry a young man who turned out to be homosexual. She left the church. And you wonder why people are church hopping. And maybe all this is because the men themselves rally are seeking to be pursued by women? Who knows.

Projection also infects nations. The Chinese are convinced that America is plotting to attack them with an armed force and take their land. If you will check on China, you will find that there really isn’t much there to acquire. China has minerals, but no water and fouled air. It is not a place anyone would want to acquire. But that is the mentality of a nation that is predatory and lurking about the South China Sea for lands to subsume. That is why China already snatched Mongolia and Tibet, and why the nation continues to suffer from the theft of land.

Tibet meanwhile has no desire to be part of China or to be anything but Tibet. Russia was also greedy for land, having assumed that grateful China would become part of the Soviet Union, a problem Chairman Mao recognized, Russia being unable for some unknown reason to develop their own properly and even today is nosing around the Middle East looking for territory. Always ambitious for someone else’s turf!

Working in China I learned that the Chinese thought all Americans were rich and white. I put on the blackboard a breakdown of races here – 55% Anglo (a word they prefer) 15% black, 12% Asian, 16% Hispanic, and so on. The number has no doubt changed today.

When I said I wanted to get a tan (the sun did not shine there for 2 straight months) they were horrified. Chinese girls put a product on their face to make them white. They look like ghosts to me. I used some indoor tanning product and they were shocked. I said I wanted to look like an American – but they didn’t understand. Americans are NOT white.

We assume people have the same beliefs. A woman told me a few years back that her son was gay. I said I was sorry. (Yes I am sorry. Gays die many years before straight people, are more often involved in domestic violence, and “divorce” more often than straight men.) Yes, I am sorry. She got huffy and said she was not sorry. I had assumed she knew something about this but I guessed wrong.

A Chinese underground press which I read daily was very happy about Anderson Cooper “coming out” as being gay. I wrote a comment on their blog that CNN was hardly much viewed by the American public, an established fact if one checks the TV numbers which come out daily.

CNN is very popular with English viewers abroad however. The man was irritated – what difference does that make he wanted to know. I replied that the CNN endorsement in foreign lands looked like something it was not; it may appear that American audiences are interested and involved, but not so. The perception of foreigners is that CNN is popular here; they could not have guessed of its dwindling audience. You can check TVbythenumbers online for a URL.

We make assumptions about culture. In the USA when you want someone to follow you, you wave with your hand at them. TOO LATE I learned that this was an obscene gesture in the Philippines. Sigh.

In Japan yellow is the color of death. For many years Isuzu would not paint a car yellow, but I was able to buy one myself when they realized Americans like yellow; it is the color of friendliness.

The list of projections can go on and on. The moral of the story is you assume nothing. Find out where people are and go from there. Many a marriage has crashed when the couple found out they shared little in common but their bedroom.

No doubt you assumed God had no opinion about things like this, but once again, if we look into the Bible carefully, we find a slew of dicta regarding national behavior and identity, and not just in the Old Testament.

God does not want world government.

First of these is the clear national individuality of nations. Globalization and world government were a major goal in the early years of the planet which resulted in mass confusion. This happened at the Tower of Babel where everyone at that time spoke the same language and joined to contest God for sovereignty of the world.

11 1-2 At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down. 3 They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and fire them well.” They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.

4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let’s make ourselves famous so we won’t be scattered here and there across the Earth.” 5 God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.

6-9 God took one look and said, “One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they’ll come up with next—they’ll stop at nothing! Come, we’ll go down and garble their speech so they won’t understand each other.” Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That’s how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into “babble.” From there God scattered them all over the world.

Well, that was just the first of the disasters. God scrambled the languages and the people scattered all speaking something “foreign” and confusion lasted until today. That should remind us that President Obama’s and the Democratic Party’s emphasis on world government will no doubt fall into ruin. But it is pretty hard to tell anyone at the high levels of politics that they are headed the wrong way.

Acts 17:26 TLV From one He made every nation of men to live on the face of the earth, having set appointed times and the boundaries of their territory. (This is not a Godly endorsement of predatory imperialism.)

Britain has chosen to renew its independence from the European Union, a much better functioning Babylon, but still rife with ills, and hopefully Britain will regain some of the moral high ground it has lost.

So, God has a mission for every nation, and a territorial boundary for them too. Nations have a Godly identity. So far I’ve seen almost nothing written on this topic. Tiny Estonia is an interesting case. Under the boot of the Communist Soviet Union (union maybe but not unity, lacking personal or political freedom) the people started singing. Yes, singing. Slowly but surely groups became larger and larger singing the old, popular songs of the nation. When European communism collapsed in the 1980’s Estonia was unified and regained its ground without a shot.

Remember when Paul and Silas were in jail and they started singing? An earthquake caused the bars of the jail to collapse and they were freed. So this singing oneself to freedom is not some new thing for Estonia. (Acts 16)

Clearly, the USA has a specific call which she has met. Preachers often fume over why God has not blasted this nation off the map, but then we look at the stats. There are many internet sites showing American charitable giving, which should not be confused with national foreign aid some of which does not go to anything other than political figures or causes. But overall Americans are the most generous people on earth, and continue to be a military aid to some nations in trouble, depending on the President in charge. Nor do Americans take land or slaves after they have buried their dead soldiers in foreign soil. One of the most astonishing and unique events in world history is the Marshall Plan to put Germany back on its feet after World War 2.

Biblical nations which served the god of child sacrifice Molech that are no more are the Hittites, Canaanites, Jebusites, and the list goes on. It is a warning to modern nations; you have no guarantee of permanence.

When I started, I’d not intended to focus on abortion but some interesting things have emerged. First, babies go to heaven. (Yes, it is a big place.) From these statistics, the ethnic background of the residents of heaven will largely be non-anglos. That will match the international statistics as well.

Second, we notice that formerly communist and communist block countries have larger abortion rates. This tells us that bad government has a definite impact on abortion rates, no doubt mirroring the poor income levels. Millennials so intent on bringing socialism to the USA should pay attention here. Socialism is communism without a gun to your head; the dictatorship comes later after they take your cash.

Third, abortion rates are a general barometer of poverty rates. People really do want to have children. We know that America is in a 8 year slump despite political protestations to the contrary because birth rates have gone down! Marriage rates and employment rates are way down too. God likes peace because with it we gain prosperity and a future. But there is no peace for the wicked. (Isaiah 48:2)

Finally there such a thing as goat nations. Matthew 25:31.

31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.32 All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats;33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’37 Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?38 And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’40 The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink;43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’44 Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not [e]take care of You?’45 Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’46 These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Christians who avoid voting need to take this seriously. Our nation, all other nations, will be judged by the mercy shown to others. We need to see some sermons on this!

This is a topic about which few people write. But the Bible is clear; in addition to individual judgment, nations will be called to account. Does this happen after the end of time, during time, or some other time? Perhaps all three.

Let’s look at the map. China is the largest single nation in terms of population on the face of the earth. It is rife with poverty and lack of rain. In spite of the fact that China has been a distinct national group she has been a land of war for the better part of 4,000 years. All their pride in longevity does not erase the the reality of failure in so many ways. But look at what China did.

China swiped two nations, Mongolia, which is about the same age as China, and Tibet. That happened around 70 years ago and the wounds and anger have not subsided. You can be sure when things do not improve God’s word has been violated in some way. Here is the scripture.

Acts 17:26 And He has made from one blood[a] every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

The Greek word in this passage is “ethnos” meaning an ethnic group of some kind, usually based on language.

In other words, keep your hands off another nation, their people and their land mass. Period. Because China was weakened by civil war, the Japanese got their hooks into China in the 1930s perpetrating great evil on the Chinese people – and look what happened to Japan at the end of World War 2.

Germany got greedy and took Austria, Poland, Italy and France, headed towards England, Spain, Russia and the rest of the Slavic nations. Look at what happened. Germany was basically destroyed. Only the work ethic of Germans brought it back, and Germany did apologize for its anti-Semitic behavior until lately.

Japan has not apologized, and she continues to move 3 steps forward and 2 back decade after decade. Not only has Japan not apologized for its wickedness (think of the Rape of Nanjing) but Japan is now romancing Mongolia because she wants land and Mongolia is the largest land-locked nation on the globe. The Mongolians have reason to be angry at China and they might just welcome Japan. The Chinese have reason to be nervous once more.

Then there is North Korea, a nation reduced to cannibalism in order to survive. China created this false barrier against the Japanese and the Americans, and North Korea has been a threat, much of that hot air, ever since. North Korea needs to return to its natural language fold – and will according to many modern prophets. [see KimClement.com]

Is anyone more miserable than the Muslims? See the constant wars in the Middle East. The Islamic religion (Koran) says that Islam will take over the whole world, or death to non-believers, called “infidels” a simple, direct theology which is creeping into every nation. But their losses continue. They kill at random, esp. women and children. Allah is descended from the ancient god of war.

How can a group survive if they kill off both the next generation and the women who will produce children? Don’t try to answer that one. Death is not a solution to the world’s problems. God says He wants life,

and life more abundantly. John 10:10

God’s plan is not abortion but life. Islam is going the exact opposite way from God.

The Middle East today, 2013, is a giant mess, politically and economically. When Egypt agreed to be at peace with Israel all was well. Now, no more. Egypt ended its provision of oil to Israel and the bottom dropped out of their own oil supply while Israel found 100 years of oil under their land. We say in Texas – Don’t mess with Texas. In Israel they say Don’t mess with Israel.

In fact there is a scripture for that. Genesis 12:3 – (paraphrased) If you bless God’s people, He will bless you. If you curse God’s people God will curse you. I’m not saying this because I am a Christian and an American – but because I have read the Word and I know what it says. More importantly, I know God means it and He won’t change His mind. Period.

You are not convinced? Look at Africa’s 200 years of constant wars. The Muslims in Sudan fought for South Sudan with much killing and terror. But South Sudan was able to separate itself as an individual nation in 2012 and is very prosperous. Now North Sudan is separate and living in poverty. That is what war does. It brings poverty and poverty is another sign of God’s displeasure.

Within just the past few weeks the Presidential election in the USA has become international – or at least exposed as international. Like cynical Pontius Pilate we may ask, “What is truth?” To explain the mass of verbiage let’s go to John 4.

Jesus has deliberately walked many miles out of his way to Samaria and he begins a conversation with a Samaritan woman. It reeks of political campaign language. John 4 follows an incident where the Pharisees have lied, knowingly or not we can’t be sure, about Jesus’ behavior. And that is what political campaigns have increasingly become, lying contents, denial contents, or change-the-subject contests.
I’m quoting the Phillips version because he doesn’t mince words. And the conflict of good vs. evil, truth vs. fiction and carnal vs. spiritual is all contained in this seemingly innocuous passage.

John 4:7 a Samaritan woman arrived to draw some water. 8-9 “Please give me a drink,” Jesus said to her, for his disciples had gone away to the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

Argument number 1: Justification by hate.

If anything defines the 2012 campaign it is hate. The pundits believe and promote, “If you disagree with me that is hate speech.” Check the newspaper – and you will see increasing hatred everywhere, such as letters to the editor. To-be-pitied Sarah Palin, not even a candidate, is condemned because she affirms some Bible principles and it is called hate speech. The word used was “vitriol.” Really? Is God’s word vitriol?

The woman at the well does not realize this but she is resisting change by affirming a generations–long animosity between Samaritans and Jews. Without common ground, she also is saying, in effect, you cannot speak to me, because of your attitude. At the foundation of any discussion, and especially possibly about God, is the assumption that the sinner does not want any sin exposed. Presumably if we can get Jesus talking about differences between old enemies or even taking some blame himself we can then take sides with the people we hate less. If we can divert the argument to someone else’s sins, esp. those from history, we will not be talking about the woman’s sin (which will come up soon enough.) If I hear one more time about how I am not accountable because of George Bush’s I will (you fill in the blank,) And maybe too, God is at fault for allowing George Bush to become President. You can see where this is going.

The hate movement of 2012 is now world-wide, the burning of American flags all over the Muslim globe and not condemned elsewhere, the hatred in Sudan, the blossoming anti-Semitism in Germany (we thought this was dead, right?) the hatred between China and Japan which has deep roots, and is, like the woman, a subtle attempt for the leaders in Beijing to get Chinese attention to an old enemy and off the increasing protests of the common man against a fat-cat government. China’s public image of “celestial harmony” is in reality a cacophony of off-key voices – the coolie who is supposed to man-up and obey every whim of a mortally-challenged bureaucracy. The root of bitterness is always available to the alert and frequently opportunistic Statist appealing to the baser emotions of fear, envy, bitterness, hatred, unforgiveness and greed.

Even the Amish, whose 1st principle is to keep oneself untainted by the world, {Romans 12:2} went to court over hate speech, i.e. cutting beards. When the Amish fall from grace, we should pay attention.

Jesus refuses to answer on the level of emotion. An emotion-based campaign is bound for failure as the issues before the voters are based not on feelings but on the reality of governance. An ever-alert media certainly does not want anyone looking at issues since their lazy reporting standards are part of the problem. But I digress.

Jesus does not allow her to change the subject. His point is not what culture says, but what God says. He is asking individuals to make a stand.

J10 “If you knew what God can give,” Jesus replied, “and if you knew who it is that said to you, ‘Give me a drink’, I think you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water!”

Jesus shifts the focus. “Living water” is a free-flowing stream. Well-water is not necessarily contaminated but it is not flowing. He is saying, I am not going to talk politics, history, or emotion but about the position and accountability of God.

Argument 2: Process

11-12 “Sir,” said the woman, “you have nothing to draw water with and this well is deep—where can you get your living water? Are you a greater man than our ancestor, Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank here himself with his family, and his cattle?”

Who owns the well is immaterial. It is the water you drink not the plat plan.

As you might suspect, she reverts to type – let’s talk about process, about how you are going to, get living water from a well. For a month newsmen want Mitt Romney to talk about specifics. He doesn’t; he sticks to principles. There is something here more important than policy. Jesus is challenging her to increase her information and understanding. In today’s lazy politics, thinking is exhausting. And she throws in culture too.

Argument 3: Culture.

Besides, the woman continues; her well is superior because of her ancestor. Like the campaign of 2012 this should not be about genealogy. Black, Hispanic, white, Indian, straight or gay, this is not about one’s superior genes, or the entitlements you anticipate from that connection. The incessant dividing people into groups, positions, ethnics, and labels has been a problem in American politics for generations. But it does not affect the quality of the water in the well, or in fact, its relevance to the issues.

Argument 4: Religion

Jesus won’t let her avoid the issues.

13-14 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I will give him will never be thirsty again. For my gift will become a spring in the man himself, welling up into eternal life.”

Jesus now makes claim for Himself. We are no longer talking politics or religion.

15 The woman said, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may stop being thirsty—and not have to come here to draw water any more!”

Jesus has from her a plea, an un-met need, something He requires from man.

Zechariah 4:10 the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth

seeking someone wanting God.

16 “Go and call your husband and then come back here,” said Jesus to her.

Oh Oh, we hit pay dirt. The bottom line for Jesus is always sin, not the government, not the parties, not the issues, but sin. All the pre-talk has been about skirting the facts. Jesus knew all along, but let her talk.

17-18 “I haven’t got a husband!” the woman answered. “You are quite right in saying, ‘I haven’t got a husband’,” replied Jesus, “for you have had five husbands and the man you have now is not your husband at all. Yes, you spoke the simple truth when you said that.”

We thought this would nail the deal. But no –she calls him a prophet. Yes, she is saying, He has superior information but no, my religion is about something else. Isn’t it interesting how when we start talking about sin, someone changes the subject and lights into religion. Religion, as defined by the Bible, is mercies to widows and orphans and staying pure. No church, synagogue or mosque is involved.

19-20 “Sir,” said the woman again, “I can see that you are a prophet! Now our ancestors worshipped on this hill-side, but you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship—”

This is classic avoidance. It reminds me of the fellow who called Jesus good, thinking perhaps he was getting in His best graces, and then being rebuked for it. Jesus always went right to the heart. Have you noticed how politicians can change the subject at will, or worse yet, spend 5 minutes talking about something else and then saying, “What is your next question?” Do they need to be trained in this? Of course not. It is natural for sinful man to change the subject when uncomfortable truth is called for.

21-24 “Believe me,” returned Jesus, “the time is coming when worshipping the Father will not be a matter of ‘on this hill-side’ or ‘in Jerusalem’. Nowadays you are worshipping with your eyes shut. We Jews are worshipping with our eyes open, for the salvation of mankind is to come from our race. Yet the time is coming, yes, and has already come, when true worshippers will worship in spirit and in reality. Indeed, the Father looks for men who will worship him like that. God is spirit, and those who worship him can only worship in spirit and in reality.”

Jesus did not fall into the politically correct trap of saying every religion eventually leads to God. It doesn’t. He does not endorse a religion as being essentially ”peaceful” or true. Jews do know more, He claims, but they don’t know everything because I am the Messiah and the Messiah himself is truth.

25 “Of course I know that Messiah is coming,” returned the woman, “you know, the one who is called Christ. When he comes he will make everything plain to us.”

When someone is backed into a wall, they agree, but she is saying to Him, I like what you are saying but I am looking elsewhere. This is good theology. Agree with your adversary when you are in the way with him. {Matthew 5:25} But her hopes that this will put him off fail.

26 “I am Christ speaking to you now,” said Jesus.

Finally, confrontation.

The woman may not be all that taught about who the Messiah is; after all she has been isolated from teaching for possibly a long while, and certainly her morally-flawed lifestyle has not been addressed by any group, just the shunning of her peers. But she sees the potential in this man. That is where we are, or so many of us were – not knowing everything but at least seeing a glimmer of truth.

The disciples return and fall back into old patterns. (It’s a good thing there weren’t there to hear this exchange. I can visualize them piping up with something wrong, as they do often enough.)

27-30 At this point his disciples arrived, and were surprised to find him talking to a woman, but none of them asked, “What do you want?” or “What are you talking to her about?”

Why didn’t the disciples question Jesus? They did often enough on other occasions. Possibly, like the woman they were afraid of what they might hear.

The woman returns with the townspeople. Yes, they don’t know much, but they have believed and are now on the path to truth. For those of you who think Islam is hopeless, this is a lesson. The most religiously-demented can be changed, or make a change. Somewhere there is a woman who will say, “This man is the one.” The messenger is the one with the testimony. All else is theory.

31So the woman left her water-pot behind and went into the town and began to say to the people, “Come out and see the man who told me everything I’ve ever done! Can this be ‘Christ’?” So they left the town and started to come to Jesus.

I don’t expect anyone to accept God’s invitation because of this protracted political campaign but I do want voters to recognize when they are manipulated by pols, polls, and diversionary tactics. God expects more from a free people than that.